Flying without VatPac/Vatsim

Dear All,

When I think of FSX I automatically think of flying on one of the networks, but it was long ago and I remember it was a bit of a pain but i do believe its quite easy now ? My question is .... can I fly with realistic tower controlers and that sort of thing. ? I just bought three monitors and a graphics card so i am keen to fly but without going online. How many online flight sim networks are there anyway ? for fsx, x-plane and P3D, is it P3D ? :)

Well, there are payware ATC addons to plug in to FSX, but dont forget it will never be as realistic as a good VATSIM or IVAO controller.

The networks I know of are VATSIM, IVAO, and VATME.

Ok thanks. Is VatPAC the same nnetwork as Vatsim ? Im guessing NoT of course but perhaps Vatpac is less populated /supported ? and lastly i forgot my ID/ details to get onto my account at vatsim, can anyone out there help ?

VATPac and VATSIM maybe the same thing. From a quick search VATPac is a VATSIM Australia Pacfic, a subdivision of VATSIM. Here is a link for member services http://www.vatsim.net/members/member-help . There is a help desk if you have an issue; you just have to fill out a ticket.

VATPac and VATSIM maybe the same thing. From a quick search VATPac is a VATSIM Australia Pacfic, a subdivision of VATSIM. Here is a link for member services http://www.vatsim.net/members/member-help . There is a help desk if you have an issue; you just have to fill out a ticket.

 

Thanks, that link was great !

From my experience I've found that there are many ways to fly online with FSX. There are basically two ways to connect.

 

The first is via the in-game multiplayer "direct connect" method. Active servers can be found at http://www.fsopen.co.uk/ . Connecting via this method offers less lag and other aircraft movements are almost real time.

 

The other method involves the use of a third party connection software. VATSIM is an example of this type of network FSHost & FSCloud also use this method. You can usually connect to these sessions with a variety of FS variants. For example you may be using FSX with SP2 & the guy landing ahead of you might be using XPlane. The main drawback is that other fliers movements can seem jerky and delayed because of the inherent lag. You do some more flexibility in what you see another users aircraft as.

 

As far as VATSIM goes the overwhelming majority of the activity there is jetliners. There is some military activity but virtually no GA activity. I think that the network is set up for ATC simulation more than flight simulation. It's harder to hang out with other flight simmers VATSIM. It's a more work less play environment. Not my cup of tea personally. If your goal is to fly IFR and just talk to ATC, VATSIM will definitely work.

 

If you're looking to spend time talking with & flying online with other flight simmers I would certainly check out the other options. Whatever you do don't connect to two networks at the same time. It's causes issues for the servers and will result in an auto disconnect. Aside from VATSIM, the free voice software Teamspeak is used to talk with others. It has a text chat ability as well. The audio quality is great even when using a slow ISP.